Open Science Lunch: Journal hijacking – the story of the Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems

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In early 2023, the editor of the Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems (SJIS) became aware that a fake clone of the journal had started to operate, tricking authors into paying article processing fees, rapidly publishing hundreds of papers, and replacing SJIS’ online presence. Join us in this Open Science Lunch session to learn more about journal hijacking, and some possible response strategies to this growing threat to open publishing.

About the topic

Journal hijacking, which refers to the attempted brand takeover of a journal by a third party, is a nascent threat confronting academia by. The hijacking of the Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems (SJIS) damages the journal's reputation, leads to payment and publication scams, involves identity theft among unsuspecting researchers, and results in tarnished author reputations. Beyond SJIS, journal hijacking presents a threat to science and academic integrity in general if researchers and readers cannot distinguish between fake publications by hijacked journals and real publications by legitimate journals. 

In this seminar, Johan Ivar Sæbø (Assoc. Prof., UiO) and Sune Dueholm Müller (Prof., UiO) will relate the story of the SJIS hijacking from the victims' perspectives. They will describe its many aspects, draw attention to the key factors that contribute to the problem, and offer their perspectives on different response strategies in the absence of simple solutions. They hope to create awareness about the problem and stimulate a discussion, not least in the face of digital innovations, such as ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence technologies that may inadvertently support paper mills and the production of fake research results.

Join the webinar and be part of the conversation!

How to join

The event is open to everybody and you can join online on Zoom (Zoom link here).

About Open Science Lunch

Each last Thursday of the month at 12.00 we invite you to join us an open lunch to hear about how to make your research more open. We will discuss research transparency and visibility, open publishing, data sharing, and more! After each short presentation we will have a Q&A session, where you can ask questions or try yourself some of the tools and solutions we will present!

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Organiser

The seminar series is a collaboration between BOTT Universities in Norway: University of Bergen, University of Oslo, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
When: 28.08.25 kl 11.45–13.00
Where: Online
Location / Campus: Digitalt
Target group: Employees, Students, Guests
Contact: Bror-Magnus S. Strand
E-mail: bror-magnus.s.strand@uit.no
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